Cheap car parts hard to find

Not that long ago, most amateur (and some professional) restorers' parts requirements were usually serviced by pack rats (generally retired) who spent years building stockpiles of new old-stock parts. Pictured: Inside the Guild of Automotive Restorers in Bradford, Ontario.

PHOTO: David Grainger, Postmedia News

By David Grainger, National Post

Originally published: February 14, 2011

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Many things about restoring classic and antique cars have become more difficult over the years. As the decades wear on, the stockpiles of parts once available have dwindled. As a result, a carburetor that 25 years ago might have cost $25 at a flea market can now cost hundreds of dollars. The reason, in many cases, is that the people who have the wanted bits and pieces know that if you are asking you need them. And they are quite often the only game in town.

Not that long ago, most amateur (and some professional) restorers’ parts requirements were usually serviced by pack rats (generally retired) who spent years building stockpiles of new old-stock parts. They then made a hobby out of running garages beside their houses or wandered from flea market to flea market selling and trading parts and swapping stories with other like-minded enthusiasts. Their kind has become increasingly rare as time has not only diminished stockpiles but also the ranks of those who stockpiled.

Today, the greatest tool we restorers have for seeking hard-to-find car parts is the Internet. Not everyone who has bits and pieces for sale is on it, but most are, and it has largely replaced the flea market and old-boy network as a way of finding needed parts. The trouble is that it has removed the friendliness of the transaction. As such, prices have risen dramatically.

The international reach of the Internet has also allowed for the burgeoning of online companies that can deal parts efficiently because they can be accessed by clients worldwide. Suddenly, carrying parts for vintage Jaguars — as an example — has the potential of becoming big business, and with big business come big costs. While the old chap selling bits for 1950s Jaguars at the flea market or in the club bulletin may have virtually disappeared — along with his stock of original parts — newfound Internet parts companies can now supply a wide circle of people.

But if the stock of original parts has largely been used up or thrown out, where do these parts come from? Simple! Wider market access has created a booming business in the production of reproduction parts. Some cars, such as Model A Fords, always had a good supply of reproduction parts simply because there are so many of them still running around. Other cars, however, were not so well supplied. That has changed to a great extent and you can now find reproduction parts for just about all major makes and models. There are still some cars with no ready supply, but I believe there are more cars supported these days than not. This isn’t to say every part for every car is going to be available — even a well-supplied vehicle such as the Model A still has pieces that cannot be bought new. But a lot of the critical parts required to keep a car running can be bought new, which is a real help when it comes to wear items such as brake and ignition parts.

Body parts are most often being produced in Asia, mainly China, with differing quality. If the parts are well made and easy to install, that’s great. But, too often, they are poorly made, with the fit so bad that it takes longer to mount them on the car than it would to repair the old part or — in some cases — make a new one from scratch.

So, what does this mean to the hobbyist or collector? Twenty-five years ago, I would tell customers that parts and outsourcing costs would be around $5,000 to $8,000 for a standard restoration. Today, those same costs can easily eclipse $30,000, depending on the car. I recently spent nearly $10,000 on parts for a brake job on a 40-year-old Rolls-Royce. Considering the car is worth maybe $30,000, that’s outrageous. It’s also fairly normal.

Vintage Mercedes, BMWs, Cadillacs and most other high-end automobiles often have outrageous parts costs. Collector cars with low parts costs include the venerable and aforementioned Model A Ford and the 1955-’57 Chevrolet. In both the Ford and Chevy cases, parts costs are held to a reasonable level because there are so many cars to service that a healthy, competitive parts market has blossomed around them.

However, if your collector car is more of a boutique item, then the cost of restoring it and keeping it on the road will not be cheap.